Rotoroa Island has recently been opened to the public after being owned by the Salvation Army for many years as a place to send Auckland drunks to sober up and dry out. This is a photo of what the island used to look like with all its buildings.
A few of the old buildings still remain, including the jail where the arrivals were originally held - I had to let Royston out...
This is a map of the island - not much to do here but walk and relax on the beaches.
The island is now a haven for native plants and wildlife - the conservation teams have spent a lot of time planting new trees and eradicating pests. Only a few buildings remain now including a couple of holiday homes for rent.
The island can be walked in a day so we did just that as well as spending some time on some of the beautiful beaches. Here is a view down the island with Ladies Bay and Mens Bay on the left.
On the western point of the island is a sculpture by Chris Booth in memory of an Auckland boatie. Quite an amazing structure pointing out to sea.
The view from the highest point of the island looking down to the exhibition centre and across to Waiheke Island in the distance. A beautiful quiet place to visit and one we will return to in the future.
Today we went for a long drive around the Derbyshire countryside with Charlotte and her parents.
We drove past Chatsworth House, and around parts of Derbyshire we didn't even know existed.
We visited the Derwent resevoir, which was used in the second world war to test the bouncing bombs, which were made famous in the Dam Busters movie.
For lunch we stopped at a beautiful old English country pub, the food was excellent as was the company.
Jet lag not being enough of a hardship, we decided to torture ourselves with 90 minutes at the City Ground watching Nottingham Forest lose to Doncaster Rovers. Apart from the match it was great to catch up with Steve, Sharon and Dan again after nearly 7 years.
For Caroline's Mum's birthday we visited Calke Abbey in the village of Ticknall in Derbyshire. This was not too far from home, so was very much appreciated in our still jet lagged state.
It was a beautiful building, and very different from anything we're now used to in New Zealand. The weather was fantastic considering the time of year.
On our first morning after the 28 hour flight, we were very tired so decided to not wander very far, particularly as the English rain had greeted us.
We went to the Jubilee Campus at Nottingham University to look at the new buildings. This one being the building in which Caroline's Dad works.
